This invention relates to tractor loaders. More particularly, it relates to a safety latch mechanism for a tractor loader.
To facilitate repair or replacement work at the front end of a tractor loader, e.g., repair or replacement of the bucket or repair or replacement of the lift cylinders, it is necessary to raise the lift arm assembly and hold it in a raised position. The people performing the repair or replacement work, either in the shop or in the field, are endangered by the mass of the lift arm assembly suspended above them; accordingly, it is desirable to latch or lock the lift arm assembly in a raised position so that it is positively held in that position rather than relying solely on the pressure in the hydraulic circuit supplying the lift cylinders.
Various latch mechanisms have heretofore been proposed and/or utilized to provide this positive latching feature. However, the various prior art mechanisms have required delicate and precise positioning operations to achieve the safety latched configuration and/or have failed in their safety latched configuration to provide positive preclusion of both upward and downward movement of the lift arm assembly.